1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to timers, and more specifically, to a programmable delay timer and method therefor.
2. Related Art
Data processing systems are used in a variety of applications. In one application, a processor may be required to perform multiple tasks, where the tasks are separated by specific time periods. That is, the processor may have to wait a predetermined time period from the end of one task or event until the beginning of another task or event. Generally, the processor will include one or more registers for storing the time periods. The time periods may be stored as the number of clock edges needed to provide the delay time at a particular clock frequency. Also, the processor may be required to operate at several different clock frequencies. Typically, a system or software designer will manually determine the number of clock edges at a given clock frequency to load in the delay registers. If the clock frequency changes, the delay times stored in each of the delay registers will have to be recalculated. Manually calculating the delay register values takes time and can lead to errors.
Therefore, what is needed is a programmable delay timer that solves the above problems.